be at risk of nutritional deficiencies as well as poor physical performance.General healthy-eating guidelines as well as specialist requirements for athletes apply to meat-eaters and vegetarians. You daily aim should be to base your meals and snacks
Q I was disappointed to get cramp at the 15-mile mark during a recent marathon. In the 48 hours before the race, I consumed plenty of carbohydrates and drank approximately four to five litres of water. During the race I drank plenty of water
to the bowl of pasta you were planning for lunch. You don't need a nutritionist to tell you that refined, processed foods such as cakes, biscuits and pastries have little nutritional value, but many complex carbohydrates are also refined, which complicates
and infection after the race. You may also be feeling disorientated – or even depressed – in the come-down after achieving such a significant running goal.Unfortunately, there’s no formula for calculating how long your body will take to recover – this will vary
multiple goals so you won’t come away from the race empty-handed,” says Hays. “Set three finish-time goals - ‘fantastic,’ ‘really good’ and ‘I can live with that.’” These can each be separated by five to 15 minutes. Set general goals, such as not walking
particular finish-time in mind, think about more general objectives such as finishing strong or simply enjoying yourself. Setting multiple goals means you won’t leave the race empty-handed.Confidence Ultimately, you should finish your taper feeling calm
Every good marathon-training plan should ‘taper’ during the final two or three weeks. That means you run less and rest more. For some people, the idea of backing off on their training just before the big race seems counter-intuitive. "So many
-up to the race with injury or life getting in the way. It’s important you first have a sensible plan of how you will ‘play’ the event: your pacing, your nutrition and your focus.If you feel shocking towards the end of the event and end up walking
